Dispenser for flat articles having at least one flap



July 5, 1966 E. L BUMP 3,259,271

DISPENSER FOR FLAT ARTICLES HAVING AT LEAST ONE FLAP Filed Oct. 14, 19632 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

EDWARD L. BUMP ATTORNEY July 5, 1966 E. L BUMP 3,259,271

DISPENSER FOR FLAT ARTICLES HAVING AT LEAST ONE FLAP Filed Oct. 14, 19652 SheetsShee1 2 INVENTOR.

EDWARD L. BUMP a /1. mm

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,259,271 DISPENSER FOR FLAT ARTlCLESHAVTNG AT LEAST ONE FLAP Edward L. Bump, Madison, Wis, assignor toIndustrial Research and Development Corp, Madison, Wis, a

corporation of Wisconsin Filed Oct. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 315,769 8 Claims.(Cl. 221-36) My invention relates to an improved dispenser forsubstantially flat articles having at least one fold or flap. Examplesof such articles include C-fold, multi-fold and single fold papertowels. Other articles having the required folded form may also bedispensed with my invention.

One of the principal problems of providing good quality paper towelingin public washrooms and other locations is the problem of waste. Thepeople who use such toweling for the most part do not pay for it, andconsequently often use two, three and even more individual paper towelswhere one would suffice The cost of such toweling is significant, and inwashrooms having a high rate of traffic the cost of such waste isappreciable.

Many attempts have been made to discourage excessive waste of papertoweling. However, such attempts have usually resulted in devices toocomplicated or not sufficiently durable for use by the general public,or too expensive or impractically designed for their intended use.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of my invention to provide adispenser of substantially flat articles having at least one fold orflap which surely dispenses a single such article at a time, and whichdiscourages excessive and wasteful use of such articles.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a dispenser whichis designed to have a minimum number of moving parts.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide such a dispenserwhich is composed of parts that may be economically manufactured andassembled.

It is an additional object of my invention to provide such a dispenserwhich is inherently durable and trouble free.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the principlesof the invention has been selected for exemplification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a dispenser employing the features of myinvention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of my dispenser taken along section line 22 inFIG. 1 showing the slide in its forward position.

FIG. .3 is a partial section view of my dispenser taken along line 3-3in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a section view of my dispenser taken along the same sectionline as FIG. 2 showing the slide in its rearward position.

Broadly, my new dispenser comprises an outer shell 11, a slide 12 havingan opening 13 and adapted to re ciprocate within the shell 11, and ahandle assembly 14 engaged in the slide 12 and adapted to reciprocateit, as shown best in FIGS. 2 and 4. Upon each complete reciprocation ofthe slide 12 by means of the handle assembly 14, the rear flap 49b of aC-fold towel 15 or other article to be dispensed is engaged by the slide12 and guided through the slide opening 13 to an aperture 16 in theshell 11. There it may be pulled from the dispenser 10 as long as theslide opening 13 remains in communication with the aperture 16, as shownin FIG. 4. After the article has been removed, the handle assembly 14 isreleased and the slide 12 returns to the forward position HCQ shown inFIG. 2. The slide 12 and the handle assembly 14 are essentially the onlytwo moving parts in my dispenser 10.

The outer shell 11 has sides 17 and 18, and a front face 19 composed ofan inclined upper surface 20, a substantially vertical middle surface 21and an inclined lower surface 22 having the aperture 16 through whichC-fold towels 15 or other flat articles are removed. A single piece ofmaterial, preferably mild sheet steel, forms the sides 17 and 13 and thefront face 19. The front face 19 of the shell 11 is preferably stiffenedby the embossed ribs 29:: seen in FIG. 1. Sides 17 and 18 containembossed guide ribs 17a which extend inward within the shell 11 to actas lateral guides for the articles to be dispensed and also to stilfenthe shell 11. Support shelves 23 and 29 extend between the sides 17 and18 of the shell 11 to support the articles to be dispensed.

The shell 11 is attached to a rear plate 23 which may be secured to awall or other surface by any suitable means. The rear plate 23 has twosubstantially perpendicularly projecting tabs 24, one of which is shownin FIGS. 2 and 4, through which shafts 25 or other similar means may beinserted to rotatably secure the rear plate 23 to the sides 17 and 18 ofthe shell 11. Locking means 26 are preferably carried by the inclinedupper surface 211 of the shell 11, and are adapted to engage a lug 27projecting from the rear plate 23 to secure the shell 11 to the rearplate 23 in closed position. One or more embossd rear guide ribs 23aextend into the shell 11 from the rear plate 23 to guide the articles tobe dispensed downward within the shell 11. When a person wants to fillthe dispenser 10 with the articles to be dispensed, he releases the lock26 and pivots the shell 11 out and away from the rear plate 23. Thearticles to be dispensed are then placed on the support shelves 28 and29 with their rear flaps 4912 opening toward the slide 12, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 4.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the slide 12 has two side panels 30 and 31, afront base portion 32 and a rear base portion 33. The base portions 32and 33, which are spaced from each other to define the slide opening 13,extend between the side panels 30 and 31 in fixed relation thereto. Theembossed rear section 34 of the front base portion 32 adjacent the slideopening 13 is contoured to adapt it to easily engage the rear flap 49bof the adjacent article to be dispensed. In the illustrated embodimentof the slide 12, the rear section 34 curves upwardly and rearwardly fromthe remainder of the front base portion 32 to form a cam nose portion.

Any suitable means may be used to mount the slide 12 for reciprocationwithin the shell 11. The illustrated means includes the correspondingslots 35 in the side panels 30 and 31 of the slide 12, and the pins 36or other similar means fixedly projecting from the sides 17 and 13 ofthe shell 11 into those slots 35.

To prevent the embossed rear section 34 of the front base portion 32from binding on the pins 36, the portions of the rear section 34adjacent each of the side panels 30 and 31 are not contoured. Rather,the rear section 34 is so embossed that those portions are substantiallyflat, as indicated in FIG. 3.

The handle assembly 14, which reciprocates the slide 12, preferablycomprises a base 52, a rear lip 53 projecting from the base 52, and twosubstantially vertical sides 54 projecting from the base 52. The frontportions 55 of the sides 54 are substantially flat and extend forwardlybeyond the front edge 56 of the base 52. The front por tions 55 rest andtravel in the substantially parallel grooves in the shell front face 19.A handle 39 is attached to the front portions by any-suitable means. Therear lip 53 is adapted to engage a slot 42 in the front base portion 32of the slide 12, as shown in FIG. 3.

The base 52 preferably rides on the floor 44 of the section 45 of theshell lower surface 22 in front of the aperture 16. Preferably, the base52, the rear lip 53 and the sides 54 are parts of a single piece ofsuitably rigid material.

Generally it is preferable to normally bias the slide 12 in itsuppermost or forwardmost position, as shown in FIG. 2, wherein itscontoured rear section 34 does not engage the rear flap 49b of thearticle to be dispensed. One or more of compression springs 46, one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 2, may conveniently so bias the slide 12. Thesprings 46 are preferably disposed between the rear lip 53 of the handleassembly 14 and the curled lip 47 of the section 45 of the surface 22 ofthe shell 11. An alternate means for so biasing the slide 12 wouldemploy one or more extension springs extending between the forwardportion of the slide 12 and the shell front face 19 or the support shelf28.

With the understanding that my invention may be used to dispense anysubstantially flat article having at least one fold or flap, theoperation of the illustrated embodiment in specifically dispensing aC-fold paper towel may be described. The C-fold towel 15 has a centralportion 48, a front flap 49a and a rear flap 4%, as shown in FIGS. 2 and4. The towels 15 are placed on the shelves 28 and 29 in the shell 11with their rear flaps 4% opening downwardly. The shelves 28 and 29should be so positioned that the rear flap 49b resting on shelf 29extends onto the rear base portion 33 of the slide 12 when the slide 12is in the position illustrated by FIG. 2. To simplify the drawing onlyone C-fold towel 15 is shown in FIG. 2. The towels 15 are maintained inproper alignment within the shell 11 by embossed ribs 29a, guide ribs17a and rear guide ribs 23a.

Downward movement of the handle assembly 14 pushes the slide 12downwardly and rearwardly to the position shown in FIG. 4. During suchmovement the slide 12 rides on the pins 36 projecting through the slots35 in its side panels 30 and 31. As the slide 12 travels rearwardly, thecontoured rear section 34 of the front base portion 32 slips between thecentral portion 48 and the rear flap 49b of the C-fold towel 15 to guidethe rear flap 4% into the slide opening 13, as shown in FIG. 4. Theslide opening 13 is sufficiently wide to easily receive the rear flap4911. As the slide 12 continues rearward, the slide opening 13 movesinto communication with aperture 16 in the shell 11. The rear flap 49bof the C- fold towel then extends through the slide opening 13 and theaperture 16 and is exposed to the person using the dispenser 10. He thensimply pulls down on the rear flap 4% to remove the C-fold towel 15 fromthe dispenser, and releases the handle assembly 14, allowing the spring46 to return the slide 12 to the position of FIG. 2.

The novel feed mechanism comprising the slide 12 and the handle assembly14 thus discharges but one C-fold towel or other flat article at a time.Each flat article exposed through the aperture 16 of the shell 11 by therearward movement of the slide 12 must be removed, and the handleassembly 14 must be released and returned to its uppermost position,before the slide 12 can again be reciprocated to expose the next flatarticle through the aperture 16. If the handle assembly 14 is releasedbefore the exposed article has been removed from the dispenser 10, theslide 12 will be returned to the position of FIG. 2 and the forward edge33a of the rear base portion 33 will guide the exposed rear flap 4% backWithin the dispenser to a concealed position.

When multi-fold or single fold paper towels are to be dispensed by mydevice, such towels are placed in the shell 11 in the same manner asdescribed with respect to the C-fold towels. The folds of adjacentmulti-fold towels should not be interlocked when placed in the shell 11.Operation of my device is the same for dispensing such multi-fold orsingle fold towels as that described above for C-fold towels.

Because my dispenser 10 has essentially only two moving parts, the slide12 and the handle assembly 14, operation is sure and little or noservicing is required. Manufacture of the dispenser 10 is economical.The parts of the dispenser 10 are simple and easily made, and they areadvantageously mounted directly in the shell 11. The pins 36 arevirtually the only extra elements required to mount either the slide 12or the handle assembly 14 in the shell 11.

The slide 12 is specifically shown as traveling an inclined path in theillustrated dispenser 10. It may easily be adapted, however, to dispensea flat article having at least one flap while traveling in any path fromthe horizontal to the vertical. When the slide 12 is reciprocated in asubstantially vertical path, gravity biasing may sometimes besubstituted for the biasing of the illustrated compression springs 46.In such a case, the articles to be dispensed will usually be biased inthe direction of the slide 12 by springs or other means.

It is understood that my invention is not confined to the particularconstruction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described,but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope ofthe following claims.

I claim:

1. A dispenser for substantially flat articles having at least one flapcomprising, an outer shell having a pair of side sections and a frontface with an upper surface, a middle surface and a bottom surface, anaperture in said bottom surface adapted to allow said flat articles topass there through, front and rear shelf means extending between saidside sections of said shell and adapted to support a plurality of saidarticles, one on top of another, in a manner such that one flap of thebottom supported article extends from said rear shelf means toward saidaperture, said front and rear shelf means being further adapted to allowsaid bottom supported article to be individually removed therefrom whenthe flap of said article extending toward said aperture is pulledthrough said aperture, a rear plate adapted to be supported insubstantially vertical relation, means for pivotally mounting said outershell on said rear plate whereby said outer shell may be pivoted betweenan open and a closed position, locking means for maintaining said outershell in closed position, a slide mounted within said outer shellbetween said front and rear shelf means and said shell aperture inreciprocable relation, said slide including a front base portion and arear base portion which are spaced apart in substantially parallel fixedrelation to define a slide opening therebetween, said slide openingbeing of sufiicient dimensions to individually receive the flap of eacharticle to be dispensed from said dispenser, said slide beingreciprocable between a first position wherein said slide rear baseportion is adapted to support the flap of a supported article extendingfrom said rear shelf means toward said shell aperture and prevent saidflap from being exposed to said aperture and a second position whereinsaid slide opening and said aperture are in communication to allow saidflap to extend therethrough and be removed from said dispenser, saidslide front base portion having a contoured rear section adapted toengage said flap of said article during movement of said slide betweensaid first position and said second position and guide said flap throughsaid slide opening and said aperture, spring means for biasing saidslide to said first position, and lever means for moving said slide tosaid second position.

2. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said shelland said rearplate carry a plurality of ribs which are disposed in substantiallyvertical relation when said dispenser is in use, said ribs being adaptedto position and guide the movements of the articles to be dispensed whensaid articles are supported by said front and rear shelf means.

3. The invention described in claim 1 wherein the slide includes twoside panels each having a slot and attached to opposite ends of saidfront and rear base portions, wherein pins fixedly project from thedispenser into said slots in said side panels to mount said slide forreciprocation, and

wherein the contoured rear section of said front base portion comprisesan embossed portion extending rearwardly from the plane of said slidetoward the lowermost supported article to engage the flap of saidarticle during movement of the slide, said embossed portion being ofgreater width than that of said flap but terminating on said front baseportion a suflicient distance from each of said side panels to avoidsaid pins during reciprocation of said slide.

4. A dispenser comprising, a closed outer shell having a bottom surface,an aperture in said bottom surface through which substantially flatarticles each having at least one flap may be discharged, means forsupporting a plurality of said flat articles, one on top of another, ina manner such that one flap of the bottom supported article extends fromsaid supporting means toward said aperture, a slide located Within saidouter shell between said supporting means and said shell aperture, meansfor mounting said slide in reciprocable relation, said slide comprisingsubstantially coplanar first and second base portions and two sidepanels, said first and second base portions extending between said sidepanels in fixed relation and being spaced from each other to define aslide opening therebetWeen of sufficient width to individually receivethe flap of each flat article, a handle assembly engaged with said slideto reciprocate said slide within said shell between a first position anda second position, said slide second base portion extendingsubstantially across said shell aperture when said slide is in its saidfirst position to close said aperture and prevent the flap of thelowermost said flat article from being exposed to said aperture forwithdrawal or tampering, said slide first base portion having a cam noseportion adjacent said slide opening, said cam nose portion extendingupwardly and rearwardly at an angle from the plane of said first baseportion toward the fiat articles supported above said slide, the end ofsaid cam nose portion having a curved upper surface and terminating at apoint above the flap of said lowermost flat article which extends towardsaid aperture, said cam nose portion engaging the upper surface of saidflap as said slide is reciprocated from said first position to saidsecond position to guide the end of said flap through the said slideopening and through said shell aperture uncovered by movement of saidslide to permit removal of said lowermost said fiat article from saidouter shell while said slide is maintained in its second said position.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein means are provided to normally biasthe slide to its first position.

6. The invention of claim 4 wherein the means to mount the slide forreciprocation comprises a plurality of pins fixedly projecting from thedispenser shell into a slot in each of the side panels of said slide.

7. The invention of claim 5 wherein the biasing means comprises a springdisposed between the dispenser and the handle assembly.

8. The invention of claim 4 wherein the first base portion of the slidehas a slot and the handle assembly has a projecting lip, said lip ofsaid handle assembly being adapted to engage said slot in said firstbase portion to connect said handle assembly to said slide.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 913,151 2/1909Neher 2 221299 X 1,311,799 7/1919 Cottini et al. 221-38 2,190,100 2/1940Harvey 22147 X 2,207,475 7/ 1940 Berger 221-47 2,830,728 4/1958 Kruegeret al 22148 2,913,144 11/1959 Myers 221-36 X LOUIS J. DEMBO, PrimaryExaminer. KENNETH N. LEIMER, Examiner.

1. A DISPENSER FOR SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ARTICLES HAVING AT LEAST ONE FLAPCOMPRISING, AN OUTER SHELL HAVING A PAIR OF SIDE SECTIONS AND A FRONTFACE WITH AN UPPER SURFACE, A MIDDLE SURFACE AND A BOTTOM SURFACE, ANAPERTURE IN SAID BOTTOM SURFACE ADAPTED TO ALLOW SAID FLAT ARTICLES TOPASS THERETHROUGH, FRONT AND REAR SHELF MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAIDSIDE SECTIONS OF SAID SHELLE AND ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A PLURALITY OF SAIDARTICLES, ONE ON TOP OF ANOTHER, IN A MANNER SUCH THAT ONE FLAP OF THEBOTTOM SUPPORTED ARTICLE EXTENDS FROM SAID REAR SHELF MEANS TOWARD SAIDAPERTURE, SAID FRONT AND REAR SHELF MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO ALLOW SAIDBOTTOM SUPPORTED ARTICLE TO BE INDIVIDUIALLY REMOVED THEREFROM WHEN THEFLAP OF SAID ARTICLE EXTENDING TOWARD SAID APERTURE IS PULLED THROUGHSAID APERTURE, A REAR PLATE ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED IN SUBSTANTIALLYVERTICAL RELATION, MEANS FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID OUTER SHELL ON SAIDREAR PLATE WHEREBY SAID OUTER SHELL MAY BE PIVOTED BETWEEN AN OPEN AND ACLOSED POSITION, LOCKING MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID OUTER SHELL INCLOSED POSITION, A SLIDE MOUNTED WITHIN SAID OUTER SHELL BETWEEN SAIDFRONT AND REAR SHELF MEANS AND SAID SHELL APERTURE IN RECIPROCABLERELATION, SAID SLIDE INCLUDING A FRONT BASE PORTION AND A REAR BASEPORTION WHICH ARE SPACED APART IN SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL FIXED RELATIONTO DEFINE A SLIDE OPENING THEREBETWEEN, SAID SLIDE OPENING BEING OFSUFFICIENT DIMENSIONS TO INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE THE FLAP OF EACH ARTICLETO BE DISPOSED FROM SAID DISPENSER, SAID SLIDE BEING RECIPROCABLEBETWEEN A FIRST POSITION WHEREIN SAID SLIDE REAR BASE PORTION IS ADAPTEDTO SUPPORT THE FLAP OF A SUPPORTED ARTICLE EXTENDING FROM SAID REARSHELF MEANS TOWARD SAID SHELL APERTURE AND A SECOND POSITION WHEREINSAID ESPOSED TO SAID APERTURE AND A SECOND POSITION WHEREIN SAID SLIDEOPENING AND SAID APERTURE ARE IN COMMUNICATION TO ALLOW SAID FLAP TOEXTEND THERETHROUGH AND BE REMOVED FROM SAID DISPENSER, SAID SLIDE FRONTBASE PORTION HAVING A CONTOURED REAR SECTION ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID FLAPOF SAID ARTICLE DURING MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE BETWEEN SAID FIRSTPOSITION AND SAID SECOND POSITION AND GUIDE SAID FLAP THROUGH SAID SLIDEOPENING AND SAID APERTURE, SPRING MEANS FOR BIASING SAID SLIDE TO SAIDFIRST POSITION, AND LEVER MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SLIDE TO SAID SECONDPOSITION.